Author
Topic: CheckMite plus (Read 4696 times)

SHB has come to Hawaii. Some people have said to use CheckMite plus, some have said it is much too toxic. I was wondering what your opinion is on the stuff. I don't want to poison my environment, but I don't want to lose hives like they have on the Big Island.

A good, strong colony will keep most shb populations within decent limits. I would suggest different counter measures though before resorting to the hard stuff. Try treating the ground beneath the hives with something like Gardstar and using a type of beetle trap. And if that were to fail, then I maybe would use something harder.

And many have been trying to build resistance against mites and SHB. It is ironic that one country that had no means of treating bees with chemicals developed mite resistant bees after 7 years. Meanwhile, here in the states, we have been dealing with mites for 25 years, and shb a shorter time. And while we have better hygienic bees as we did 10 years ago, we still have bees that succumb to mites and SHB. The constant treatment from an industry standpoint, importation of weak genetics, and no real concerted effort to develop resistant bees, have perpetuated an ongoing problem.

Can you imagine having resistant bees? Funding for bee labs, university research departments, and half the products sold to beekeepers....would not be needed. Orders for bees would drastically be reduced as winter killed hives would decrease. Increased supply would lower pollination fees. Prior to mites, 10% loss per year was considered devastating. But reality is that the whole bees industry, from the top all the way down, benefit from having mites around for another 25 years.

The importation of Australian bees, and Hawaiian bees, both of which had never been previously exposed to mites or SHB, no doubt have kept bees in the states from developing higher resistance. And now, those beekeepers in Hawaii will have to make the same decisions. Pay the price and develop resistant bees, or treat for years to come.

I would never place checkmite in my hives. Coumophos has been shown in studies to cut the virility of queens, shorten lifespan, and seriously degrade queen quality.

Use mechanical methods such as limiting the area needing defended by bees, build from your hives that show resistant or the ability to not crash from SHB, and be more diligent. It takes extra work. I find many problems are created by beekeepers themselves not being aware of what is happening in the hive and only when the hive is doomed, do they do something.

While I don't hope mites and SHB on anybody, I also know the importation of bees from areas without mites and SHB eventually degrade my bees in some manner. Now that we are on the same page, we can turn the page and hopefully as an industry, move forward to better days.

And many have been trying to build resistance against mites and SHB. It is ironic that one country that had no means of treating bees with chemicals developed mite resistant bees after 7 years. Meanwhile, here in the states, we have been dealing with mites for 25 years, and shb a shorter time. And while we have better hygienic bees as we did 10 years ago, we still have bees that succumb to mites and SHB. The constant treatment from an industry standpoint, importation of weak genetics, and no real concerted effort to develop resistant bees, have perpetuated an ongoing problem.

Can you imagine having resistant bees? Funding for bee labs, university research departments, and half the products sold to beekeepers....would not be needed. Orders for bees would drastically be reduced as winter killed hives would decrease. Increased supply would lower pollination fees. Prior to mites, 10% loss per year was considered devastating. But reality is that the whole bees industry, from the top all the way down, benefit from having mites around for another 25 years.

The importation of Australian bees, and Hawaiian bees, both of which had never been previously exposed to mites or SHB, no doubt have kept bees in the states from developing higher resistance. And now, those beekeepers in Hawaii will have to make the same decisions. Pay the price and develop resistant bees, or treat for years to come.

I would never place checkmite in my hives. Coumophos has been shown in studies to cut the virility of queens, shorten lifespan, and seriously degrade queen quality.

Use mechanical methods such as limiting the area needing defended by bees, build from your hives that show resistant or the ability to not crash from SHB, and be more diligent. It takes extra work. I find many problems are created by beekeepers themselves not being aware of what is happening in the hive and only when the hive is doomed, do they do something.

While I don't hope mites and SHB on anybody, I also know the importation of bees from areas without mites and SHB eventually degrade my bees in some manner. Now that we are on the same page, we can turn the page and hopefully as an industry, move forward to better days.

Good luck.

============

This American society (et al...perhaps) has become dependent/oriented by use of chemicals so much it is unreal. Agri needs them but, yards/lawns/parks for example..... should not be allowed.

Do we know and understand how they developed resistant in the 7 years?

1) After several years, the bees adapted and beekeepers perpetuated only bees that could survive. Beekeepers were forced into this as they did not have the economical means to buys chemicals.

2) Those mites on the higher scale of devastation, were killed off. Lesser mites that were less devastating, which allowed colonies to survive, were perpetuated.

So as better bees were bred, a less devastating mite was also bred. Result: a balance between host and parasite.

In the U.S. due to treatments, we did the opposite. We perpetuated weak bees by treating them, and also bred a hardier mite that could withstand treatments. So we constantly breed weak bees, and stronger mites, through the selection process being affected by treatments.

And unfortunately, we will have this situation for years to come. ;) But that may be due to profit and other factors that we always lead to one true comment......"Follow the money!". :roll: